Rare Early 20th Century South American JNF Iron Charity Box

Extremely rare South American Iron JNF/KKL Charity box, circa 1920.

Decorated with a map of Israel, Star of David with the word Zion inside, and titled in Hebrew "Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael". Inscribed in Spanish "Redeem the land cooperate with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael".

The map depicts land purchases made in the early 20th century. The box pre-dates settlement in the Negev (1936), thus this region is not shown on the map.

The Jewish National Fund (JNF) used this iron charity box in the early 1900s to raise money for the purchase of land for the Jewish people. Jews from around the world collected spare change in boxes like this to help build a homeland for their people. The JNF’s signature ‘Blue Box’ became a symbol of Zionism throughout Jewish communities worldwide.